By Judith E. Lipson, M.A., LPC
When I recently updated my logo, I returned to the image of my original spiral. It seems appropriate now to explain the story of that spiral and its significance in my life and work.
This story starts several decades ago when I was learning to reduce my anxiety. Knowing me now, you wouldn’t even believe how anxious I was as a youth and early(ier) adult! I was taught breathing and calming exercises, and then meditation. Even that was frightening for this anxious young woman. But little by little over the course of a year I began to let go and allow my body and mind to relax as I returned to my roots as an intuitive empath.
Eventually I began to notice visualizations in these early meditations. The shape was always the same – a spiral. It always had the same direction and the same number of whorls. Eventually, I tried to do research to find out more, but if you can believe this, there was very little about spirals. Without the internet (or maybe it had just begun), there were no links to spiritual messages. There were books, but they only talked about spirals in nature (i.e.: the nautilus shell, plants, etc.) and mathematics (i.e.: the Fibonacci spiral). However, none of that felt satisfying to understand why I was seeing spirals, and this specific spiral, in repeated meditations.
Eventually, I began to experience more diverse visualizations in my meditations. Yet I always remembered those spirals. THAT spiral.
Fast forward to February of 2002 when I opened my private practice, Spiral Wisdom LLC. In the year prior, while I tried to develop a name, I remembered (how could I forget!!) my link to spirals and incorporated it in my business name. I thought this was a full circle moment, but that was yet to come.
My original logo had a very raw image of my spiral, so in 2010 I worked with a graphic designer who suggested a really cool logo that incorporated a spiral into a hand. I accepted it, and even loved it, but I have to be honest that I always missed MY spiral.
In 2012 I traveled to Sedona for a retreat to acknowledge the significance of the date, 12/12/12. As part of our events, we traveled to a local petroglyph site (dated 500 CE – 1425 CE). Our docent was discussing the significance and meanings of the various carvings on the large wall. Most of these carvings were very elaborate and could be measured in feet (see photo below).
I noticed that some of the attendees had circled around to the side wall, so I did so as well. I almost missed it since it was only about 2 inches in diameter. There, as clear as could be was MY spiral (see below). I got so excited I kind of made a scene. LOL The docent was wondering what was going on. He later explained that though he didn’t have an explanation for the meaning of the spiral, it is located on what is considered the women’s wall of the site.
Fast forward to when I celebrated my 60th birthday with a special ceremony to publicly state, aloud, before my attendees, all the names that had ever been used to identify me, including my maiden name, nick-names, some names from meditations, and my current name. I stepped forward (with an awesome staff that had been loaned to me for this ritual) as me. It was phenomenal. It was transformative! Yet, in hindsight, it was nothing.
Continued work has led me to realize that I had been unwilling to trust exposing myself. I see that I had been hiding behind my business name. I was writing everything business-related on social media under my Spiral Wisdom LLC page. Even my monthly newsletter (which I’ve been writing for eight years) was called The Spiral Wisdom Newsletter.
In the last quarter of 2020 I began to fully acknowledge myself as Judy Lipson and I’m ready to be fully recognized professionally this way. No more hiding! (And my newsletter and website banners have been redesigned with the new logo).
Now, don’t get me wrong. I will always recognize my business as Spiral Wisdom LLC. Spirals, and the wisdom of spirals, are integral to the work that I do. Most people talk of therapy being the peeling away of the layers of an onion to reach the core issues. While this is true, one can also view the movement of the spiral directing one’s awareness to deeper and more integral aspects of their healing; or in reverse, to see how the healing of core issues affects all aspects of one’s life. And seen 3-dimensionally, the spiral becomes a vortex – a powerful space for transformative change.
My 60th ceremony was the time of ritually stepping forward to own who I was. Creating this new logo and claiming my professional life as Judy Lipson is doing so at a deeper level. From the perspective of the spiral I can see how this is a perfect analogy of going to the center to be the core of me. But the reverse whorl is also the perfect analogy. I have gone inward to find and identify me, and now I’m taking all of that outward, along the whorls of the spiral, transforming myself and spreading the message.
And what is the message? Right now it’s all about helping people to:
- Appreciate Sensitives
- Understand transformation
- Remember and Become Who You Really Are
- Navigate the larger picture of the changes that are happening in our society during this transformative time
I have no idea if this message and mission will morph over time. I just know that I’m happy to show up as Judy, to do this work, and to release that fear of being seen.
Judy
Judy Lipson is a Licensed Professional Counselor and educational strategist in West Bloomfield, MI. She helps clients of all ages who have learning difficulties, work or school related anxiety, ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorders, and those who wish to Remember and Become ‘Who You Really Are’. Contact Judy at 248.568.8665 and judylipson@spiralwisdom.net, and visit www.JudyLipson.com for more information.
This article is for informational purposes and is not meant to replace medical care.
